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Friday, January 15, 2010

What took me so long?!

What took me so stinkin' long to sew up my first string block???? I have no idea, but I LOVE them! I've got all kinds of small pieces left over from my VQB quilt so I thought I'd put some of it to use! The above photos were taken before I squared it up to about 8"... which is what the below photos resemble.

Thanks to Christina I had lots of good resources to study before I attempted this style block... and now I'm addicted! And they're not hard at all! Note to self: Don't put off making blocks that look more daunting than they really are. Really.

Oh, and thanks to my fabulous MIL, I now have a new white cutting mat that covers my ENTIRE cutting table, and I mean corner to corner! One of the best Christmas gifts I received, hands down. Plus it makes photo taking a breeze!

I went out and bought some inexpensive 12" square scrap book paper to make BIGGER blocks than this and you can rest assured I will be sewing a few more of them this weekend. These could be used to start a new baby quilt, or even used to spruce up the BACK of my VQB quilt. Time will tell!

If you've never made a string block - tell me why, then cross your heart and hope to die that you WILL try one soon!

ps- So sorry about all the GREEN blocks I've been posting lately.... just think of it as... an early salute to St. Patty's Day. That's in March, right?

I just love string quilts and have never made one either. I want to do one this year, but I was thinking of making one with the center strip of each the same color. I'm sure you've seen them -- often a white strip. I think I've been putting it off for fear of the white strips not matching up. I made one practice block up and the middle strips did not match exactly -- BUT, I just pulled out the block and it really isn't that bad. You hardly notice. Sigh. I just need to take the plunge! Maybe 2010 will be my year of the string quilt!

Ooooo.... I love it! I haven't tried a string quilt yet, and actually I've been thinking about doing string blocks for my quilting bee when it's my month (although that's not until December so I'm sure I'll be changing my mind by then). I also love your cutting mat, and how great is one that covers your entire table!

Ok, I totally LOVE this block. I love the greens, I love the elephants and I really, really want to make some (string blocks, not elephants!).

I actually started looking out fabric to make a string block cushion, but I don't have enough variation in my stash yet, so I'm going to hold off :( But this is totally on my todo list! Thanks for the link to the tutorial!